Nomine Fabian: 'I can do everything but run' – DW – 05/27/2025

DW

27-05-2025

DW visited one of but a few people in Germany who sail, despite being confined to a wheelchair. The 11-year-old sails for the pure joy of her sport, but she is also aiming to become a role model for others.
When Nomine Fabian made her way to a beach on the coast of Föhr in the North Sea for her first sailing lesson of the year – she did so in a wheelchair. She was accompanied by Dirk Hückstädt, her coach, who runs a surfing and sailing school on the small German island.
The two know each other well, as Hückstadt started teaching Nomine how to sail some six years ago, when she was only five.
A first for the coach
"Nomi was the first wheelchair user who came to us wanting to learn to sail," Hückstädt told DW.
"At the time, we had no experience with wheelchair sailing, but we started her out on a children's catamaran."
Hückstädt and his team thought about how they might modify the vessel to meet Nomine's physical needs, but she quickly proved to them that people in wheelchairs can sail without special equipment.
"We soon realized that she could slide wonderfully from one side to the other. And Nomi could operate the sheet and rudder quite normally," Hückstädt recalled.
'We'll find a way'
As long as a sailor can do that, there should be no major problems, explained the 52-year-old, whose philosophy is not to rule anything out as being impossible, without having first given it a try.
"If someone comes to me wanting to learn to do something, we'll find a way," he said.
While Hückstadt had never taught a wheelchair user how to sail before, the idea didn't seem at all unusual to him, as he has also helped wheelchair users to learn how to do things like kite surf or drive a beach buggy.
Nomine is clearly in her element on the water. Before the training session began, Hückstadt asked her a couple of questions to test what she had learned about sailing so far, then he gave her a few last-minute tips.
Fearless on the North Sea
A few minutes, later, Nomine was skillfully steering the catamaran through the small waves of the North Sea. Whether tacking or jibing, Nomi has every move down pat.
Right from her very first lesson, she's never been afraid of sailing alone, because, as she puts it, "the North Sea isn't deep and there's nothing dangerous. Just the porpoises… they only eat smaller fish and plankton."
Nomine earned her sailing license at the age of eight.
"She said, 'I can read now, so I can answer the theoretical questions. And I can write, so I'm going to get my sailing license now,'" her mother, Andrea Fabian told DW.
"It makes me incredibly proud and very happy to see what's possible despite having a spinal cord injury," she said.
Dirk Hückstadt had never taught anybody in a wheelchair to sail until Nomine came along Image: Thomas Klein/DW
"Back then, we never would have thought that a wheelchair user could develop such independence. It makes us very happy to see her so happy and so free."
'Great that the Paralympics exist'
Asked about her biggest dream, Nomine doesn't have to think twice.
"I want to compete in the Paralympics at least once," she said, without narrowing her dream down to a single event – or even specifying Summer or Winter Games.
"I think it's great that the Paralympics exist. You can show people that sports are possible even with a disability," she said.
"I want to help people feel strong and be able to do whatever they want." Sports, according to Nomine, are for everyone—including sailing.
Asked about her greatest success (so far), that's also a no-brainer.
"My greatest success is that I started sports," she said. "I can do everything except run. I'm proud of that."
This article was originally published in German.